The Orlando Sentinel reported today that critics in the federal government have raised concerns that although the President has heightened immigration enforcement efforts on businesses that are suspected of hiring undocumented immigrants, and despite the fact that the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) has already conducted more workplace audits of the I-9  (Employment Eligibility Verification) forms, critics feel that the government’s enforcement has been has been too lenient [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced recently that it has redesigned the E-Verify system to make it easier for employers to verify whether or not individuals are authorized to work in the United States. E-Verify is a free, internet based based system, that allows participating employers to verify the employment eligibility of their employees. USCIS officials estimated that over 208,000 employers are registered users of  E-Verify, and, has [...]

The New York Times reported recently that the hiring records of the Gervais Family Farms in Bakersfield, Vermont were inspected as part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (USICE’s) enforcement efforts to inspect the employment records of 1,000 businesses across the United States.  The businesses that were inspected were either known or suspected to have hired undocumented immigrants. The USICE imposes [...]

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) reported earlier this week that it has just issued about 180 Notices of Inspection (NOI’s) to businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. The NOI’s informed the affected business owners that they have three (3) days to prepare for the USICE to inspect their hiring records to determine whether or not they have hired unauthorized [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported recently that the system both Congress and the President direct employers to use called E-Verify to combat the hiring of illegal immigrants, is actually failing to identify over half of the unauthorized workers it checks, a research company named Westat has found. The research company found that E-Verify failed to detect so many illegal workers mainly because the system [...]

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) reported this past weekend that Koch Foods of Cincinnati LLC, a poultry processing plant was assessed and paid over $536,000 in fines for violations of the U.S. immigration laws concerning the hiring of undocumented immigrants. The USICE investigated the company based on an anonymous tip received alleging that company was employing over 100 undocumented workers at their poultry [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services  (USCIS) has increased its resources and reorganized anti fraud operations to include an Office of Fraud Detection and National Security in light of the passage of the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, to identify and investigate false claims in connection with green card applications based on marriage, H-1B and L-1 work visas, [...]

The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) reported recently that the U.S. Attorney’s Office have reached a non-prosecution agreement with Pilgrim’s Pride, a poultry packing plant in connection with the hiring and employment of undocumented immigrants.   Based on the terms and conditions of the agreement, the company will pay the government $4.5 million and devise an immigration compliance program under the recommendation of USICE officials to ensure that [...]

The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) fined a manufacturer from Detroit, MI accused of failing to properly complete approximately 100 employment eligibility forms for its workers. The USICE conducted an audit back in March of this year and discovered various discrepancies.  As a result, USICE investigators charged the manufacturer with violations including failing to keep on file, employee attestations stating that they [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported today that  the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act of 2010, signed by President Obama on October 28, 2009, has extended the E-Verify, the Immigrant Investor (EB-5 Pilot Program), the Special Immigrant visa category for non-minister religious workers, and, the date by which J-1 nonimmigrant exchange visitors must obtain J-1 status to qualify for [...]